Charlotte Hornets: Taking a look back at the worst loss of the season

Unfortunately, life can’t always be filled with highs. The lows must be there in order for one to appreciate those highs. For a young team like the Charlotte Hornets, learning from those low points was a common endeavor.

Now that their season is officially over, the Charlotte Hornets can move forward with whatever steps they deem necessary in order to improve the team. The usual things like the NBA Draft and signing free agents is on the agenda, of course, but for a team filled with young guys, looking back at bad losses is one way they can learn as a group.

If that’s the case, then one should look no further than their November 30th outing against the Milwaukee Bucks. You’re probably wondering why losing to the first-place team in the NBA is a “bad loss,” but when you lose by 41 points, I don’t care who it is, that’s a bad loss.

That was exactly the outcome on a blustery Saturday night in Milwaukee. Charlotte never led in this one, which shouldn’t surprise you if you simply look at the score. In fact, the closest the game ever was once Charlotte finally scored, was a five-point margin.

After that, the Bucks never looked back, scoring over 30 points in every quarter while holding the Hornets to under 25 points in two quarters. The highest quarter total for Charlotte was just 26 points. At the end of the night, the final score was 137-96.

Even against a talented team like the Milwaukee Bucks, losing by over 40 is an embarrassment.

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Part of that is the team shooting a mere 36% from the floor. That’s not terrible, but when the opposing team shoots 54% from the field, then that’s a recipe for defeat every time. Shooting 33% from three isn’t going to do you any favors either, especially when your opponent shoots 46% from behind the arc.

This was at the time, though, when the Hornets’ perimeter defense was among the worst in the league. Add on attempting just eight free-throws and getting dominated in the paint by 20 points, and you have a humiliating loss, to say the least.

individually, the Hornets weren’t at their best, with Devonte’ Graham leading the way with 24 and Terry Rozier adding in 19, but outside of those two, the team was horrid from the field and the final box score showed it.

Three Hornets players were -30 or worse, with P.J. Washington leading the futility with a staggering -39, but Miles Bridges wasn’t far behind, sporting a -38. Yes, they were both guarding the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Greek Freak only played 20 minutes, so they had their hands full with multiple guys.

+/- isn’t the only meaningful stat, of course, but when you have the Bucks with five guys with +23 or higher, that should paint the picture of how bad this defeat was. In addition, the Bucks had nine players in double figures, with Giannis leading way with 26, again, in just 20 minutes.

One good thing to look at, however, was the Hornets’ rebounding, where they actually had as many rebounds as Milwaukee, with both squads pulling in 53 boards. For a team that is known for being in the bottom tier on the glass, that’s something positive to take home.

You’re not going to head into Milwaukee and take one from the mighty Bucks very often, especially if you’re a team like the Hornets, but to be decimated in such a fashion as Charlotte was on this Saturday night was a feat to be remembered.

Perhaps this one can be a learning tool for the Charlotte Hornets going into next season, as they’ll certainly look to improve upon their poor play in this particular matchup. Who knows? Maybe they can pull off an upset or two next season when they face this team again. It certainly would be a boost to their confidence.